Charlton Street Gang
| Founded by | Sadie "the Goat" Farrell |
|---|---|
| Founding location | New York City |
| Years active | 1860s-1880s |
| Territory | New York City, North River, of New York Harbor, Hudson River, from the Harlem River, as far as Poughkeepsie and Albany, New York |
| Ethnicity | Irish-American |
| Membership (est.) | ? |
| Criminal activities | theft, river piracy, kidnapping |
The Charlton Street Gang was a New York City street gang and river pirates during the mid nineteenth century.
The Charlton Street Gang were one of the earliest river pirate gangs, raiding small cargo ships, in the North River, of New York Harbor, during post-Civil War period, of the 1860s. With the well protected ocean liners and major shipping vessels reserved for the Manhattan Westside dockyards however, the gang began to raid merchant shipping upriver.
Under the leadership of Sadie the Goat, the gang stole a sloop, in 1869 and soon began raiding merchant shipping and raiding homes, along the Hudson River, from the Harlem River, as far as Poughkeepsie and Albany, New York. Flying the flag of the Jolly Roger, the gang was extremely successful soon becoming known for kidnapping wealthy men, women, and children for ransom. According to newspapers of the period Sadie the Goat allegedly had forced several male victims to walk the plank. However, after several victims had been murdered by the gang local Hudson Valley residents formed a vigilante group and, after several members were killed in a series of violent battles, the gang decided to return to the New York waterfront where they returned to street crime eventually dissolving by the end of the decade.
Resources
- Sifakis, Carl. Encyclopedia of American Crime, New York, Facts on File Inc., 1982